The NBA Draft Lottery and its (unlikely) impact on the Celtics

The NBA Draft Lottery was yesterday afternoon, and there were more shake-ups than meet the eye.

A quick glance at the top four may not draw much surprise. The Washington Wizards — the worst team in the NBA — won the No. 1 pick. Crazy, right? Well, actually, yes.

Since the NBA adopted its current lottery odds in 2019, the worst team in the league has never won the lottery. Until now. The Wizards finished the 2025-26 campaign with a 17-65 record, the worst in the league.

And it will now be the only time under these lottery odds that the worst team landed the first-overall pick, because next year, the NBA will be implementing a new lottery system.

Now, Washington will have the chance to pair AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, or Cameron Boozer with their new-look core of Trae Young, Anthony Davis, and Alex Sarr.

Right behind the Wizards are the Jazz, who landed the No. 2 pick from the No. 4 slot. They’ll get the second choice of that trio, with a chance of keeping Dybantsa in state after he played his college ball at BYU.

After that, things get interesting.

The Memphis Grizzlies, who entered Sunday afternoon with the sixth-best odds, jumped up to No. 3, meaning they will almost certainly walk away with the leftovers of the Dybantsa-Peterson-Boozer trifecta.

Most mocks project that guy to be Boozer, which would form a new-look core of Cedric Coward, Boozer, and Zach Edey in Memphis. Not a bad place to start, and that’s without considering what they get back (if anything) in a Ja Morant trade package this summer, should that be the route they take.

The Chicago Bulls also jumped up, moving from the potential No. 9 selection to the No. 4 spot, widely mocked as North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson. He should be able to provide Chicago with a much-needed infusion of young talent, pairing nicely alongside Matas Buzelis in the Bulls’ frontcourt.

Then come the Indiana Pacers.

Or, as the lottery balls dictated, the LA Clippers.

Indiana traded its first-round pick in this year’s draft to the Clippers in a deadline deal that brought back Ivica Zubac. It was top-four protected, as well as protected 10-30. This was quite literally the worst possible scenario for the Pacers.

Their selection fell to No. 5 after they went into the evening with the second-best odds. Now, the Clippers will get the pick.

At a glance, the deal may seem lopsided now. In total, Indiana traded Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, the No. 5 pick in this year’s draft, their unprotected 2029 first, and a future second for Zubac.

That’s a lot. There’s no getting around that.

However, the risk will pay off if Indiana can build on the 2025 Finals run. With Tyrese Haliburton healthy, an upgraded center position, and a wide-open East, the Pacers will have a chance to do so.

After pick four, the draft gets interesting. Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer, and Wilson seem like a clear-cut top four. But after that, anything could happen.

For the most part, teams in the 5-8 range will be picking from a slew of obscenely talented guards. Arkansas Darius Acuff Jr., Illinois’ Keaton Wagler, Houston’s Kingston Flemings, and Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. highlight the bunch.

The Brooklyn Nets will pick sixth, the Sacramento Kings are at seven, the Atlanta Hawks (by way of the New Orleans Pelicans) are at eight, the Dallas Mavericks are at nine, and the Milwaukee Bucks are at 10.

Following that group are the Golden State Warriors (No. 11), Oklahoma City Thunder (No. 12), Miami Heat (No. 13), and Charlotte Hornets (No. 14).

The Thunder’s appearance in the top 14 is via the Clippers, as they are still paying off the picks from the Paul George trade (that also netted them soon-to-be two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander).

Guys like Yaxel Lendeborg of Michigan, Nate Ament of Tennessee, Labaraon Philon Jr. of Alabama (a personal favorite from last year's draft cycle, projected in Boston's range at No. 28 before he went back to college), Brayden Berries of Arizona, and Hannes Steinbach of Washington will likely be available around this range.

But how does any of this affect the Boston Celtics?

In short, most of it doesn’t. That is, unless the Celtics decide to acquire a top-14 as part of a major trade that shakes up their core.

From a Jaylen Brown perspective, there aren’t many top-14 teams that make sense. The only ones that do are the Hawks, Heat, and Hornets, and the latter two are a stretch.

There was some Brown-to-Atlanta buzz from Chris Mannix of NBC Sports, but only from the lens that the Hawks didn’t like the price tag last summer.

That said, should Boston want to go a bit younger, it could theoretically ask for the No. 8 pick in a package for Brown. But again, the Hawks may not want to break apart their young core right now.

For the Heat, trading the No. 13 pick alongside other contracts for Brown could make sense if they wanted to pair him with Bam Adebayo. And the same goes for the No. 14 pick and Charlotte, should they attempt to capitalize on their second-half success from this season.

However, none of those moves really move the needle for Boston. The best of the bunch would probably be getting No. 8, Onyeka Okongwu, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker from the Hawks, and even in that case, both sides may hesitate to make the trade.

Should the Celtics decide to trade Brown, they should be looking for a significant upgrade, and the harsh reality is, there just aren’t many (available) guys who provide that, especially among the lottery teams.

Maybe some Derrick White trade conversations could lead to Boston landing a lottery pick.

The Clippers were reportedly interested in Jrue Holiday last summer, so could they want White? More importantly, would they be willing to cough up the No. 5 pick in a deal for him (and more)?

The answer is almost unequivocally no. But perhaps if Steve Ballmer is itching to make some more second-round playoff runs, a deal could be struck.

Would Atlanta want to push some chips onto the table for White, giving up salaries and the No. 8 pick in an attempt to move up the Eastern Conference pecking order? Maybe? But that seems far-fetched.

The first potential suitor that stands out is the Warriors, as he could slot in nicely next to Stephen Curry in their backcourt. They have the No. 11 pick, but matching White’s salary in a deal would be tough.

If Giannis Antetokounmpo decided to stick around in Milwaukee, maybe they would want White? The same goes for Miami at No. 13 and Charlotte at No. 14.

But much like the Brown trade ideas, none of the lottery-team White concepts achieve Boston’s ultimate goal of improving right now.

Payton Pritchard’s contract is too valuable to move, so that likely takes him out of the equation. But what about Sam Hauser?

Hauser is one of the best 3-point shooters in basketball, and he’s a plus defender. But the Celtics have a lot of young wings. A lot of young, talented, impactful wings.

So, with Hauser on a great contract, could a team like the Warriors, Heat, or Hornets be willing to part ways with a late-lottery pick for a package that includes a win-now rotational piece?

It doesn’t seem super likely, but it’s definitely not off the table. Especially for a team like the Warriors, who could prioritize winning now, or the Hornets, who could favor pushing some chips to the table immediately.

In all likelihood, Boston will remain at pick No. 27. Funnily enough, it will be the earliest Brad Stevens has ever picked in a draft during his tenure as President of Basketball Operations.

The lottery probably won’t mean anything for the Celtics, in particular. But anything can happen.